Thursday, August 15, 2013

Australia Greens announce plan to legalize euthanasia

The Australian Greens announced today their intention of legalizing euthanasia, if elected, in the upcoming federal election. A one-sided article that was published in the Australian Times stated:

Greens Senator Richard Di Natale outlined the plan earlier today at a press conference in Sydney. He said that the Greens would base their euthanasia policy on a bill proposed by federal Greens candidate Cate Faehrmann in New South Wales earlier this year.

The article continued:

Dr Di Natale said that it was unlikely Ms Faehrmann’s legislation would be implemented as it currently stands, claiming that it would provide a basis for a Senate inquiry into the best possible way to introduce federally-sanctioned euthanasia.

The one-sided article in the Australian Times continues by quoting Austalia's Dr Death, Philip Nitschke but appears to intentionally ignore comments from Paul Russell, the leader of HOPE Australia.Faehrmann's euthanasia bill was soundly defeated on May 23 in the New South Wales.

Paul Russell

Paul Russell wrote an article about the defeat of the New South Wales euthanasia bill where he explained how the work of HOPE Australia and the distribution of the book: Exposing Vulnerable People to Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide by Alex Schadenberg to members of the New South Wales parliament were primarily responsible for the extraordinary defeat of the euthanasia bill.I predict that the Australian Greens support for euthanasia will not translate into a federal election victory for the Greens and will not lead to the Australian government legalizing euthanasia.